The Fire in the Heart Lingers
by MizzyPlatinum
Summary: AU in which Lucy has to break the news to her friends that she is moving. NaLu. TwoShot.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**_

 **Happy Belated Birthday to my ex-waifu, Rory (makepretendprincess)! Even tho you couldn't handle my harem, you will always hold a special place inside my heart as first waifu :'D**

 **But in all seriousness, I feel so blessed to have met you and that we have become such great friends. Thank you for always being there for me *hugs***

* * *

 **XOXOX**

It was just a mundane Saturday evening at Lucy's to her chagrin. Or normally to her chagrin if this were a _normal_ Saturday, but in actuality, it was her _last_ Saturday. The last Saturday she would get to spend with her friends and they had no idea.

And it was as typical as ever and Lucy loved every minute of it.

Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel fought each other like cats and dogs, while Juvia watched Gray from afar. Erza munched happily on a slice of strawberry cake from her supply that she kept in Lucy's fridge. Levy was busy reading Lucy's latest chapter of her short story. Cana was busy chugging down big gulps of beer.

Just a normal night… _Yeah right._ Normally, Lucy would have been scolding the boys for being so rowdy. Normally, she would have yelled at everyone to go home and to stop breaking into her house every weekend.

But today, she let them all do as they pleased as she leaned against her cool living room wall, hugging her arms to her chest. She just didn't have it in her to yell at them _one last time._

"Oii, Lucyy." Natsu poked her cheek, earning himself a weak scowl from her. "Why are you bein' so quiet? Did ya eat somethin' bad?" His cheeky grin made her _physically hurt._ It was like someone socked her in the stomach and all she wanted to do was hurl over a bit.

She chuckled sadly to herself. She was sure going to miss this.

"Yeah, what Flame Brain said," Gray commented, thrusting his thumb to point at Natsu. "Usually you would be screamin' at us for breakin' in to your house."

"Juvia agrees with Gray-sama!" Juvia gleefully chimed in.

"No I didn't eat anything bad." She lightly touched her stomach, looking down at it. "Actually, I don't think I ate at all today." _Or all week_ , she silently added. How could she possibly eat with all the mental turmoil she was in?

It was almost like she was drowning. Feeling this burning pressure tumble over her like an ocean wave, making her desperate for air.

"Then maybe that's it!" Natsu exclaimed. His face lighting up so brightly and innocently, it was like another wave crashing into her. "You're probably just hungry. I know when I'm hungry I get all quiet and depressed as well."

"Really?" Gray scoffed, elbowing Natsu in the ribs. "Because I thought you just get extra annoying when you're hungry—oh wait, you're just extra annoying no matter what."

"Oii, what'd you say, Ice Trash?"

"I think you heard me, Ass Flame!"

 _She was_ _really going to miss this._

Lucy dropped her head and clenched her fists, urging back the tears that threatened to spill. _I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry_. "That's not it either."

"Then what is it, Lu-chan?" Levy coaxed, talking so gently that Lucy could really feel her heart chipping away. "You know you can tell us anything. We won't judge you or anything!"

"Well maybe a little." Cana snickered.

Lucy glanced back up and saw that all eyes were on her. She blushed, feeling a bit overwhelmed as she met all the curious eyes of her friends, darting from Cana's mischievous purple eyes to Levy's compassionate brown eyes, over to Natsu's warm black eyes. She had to tell them. It wasn't like she had a choice in the matter…But, _God,_ did it feel like she ripping a part of her soul. She didn't want to say it.

 _She couldn't._

Saying it out loud would make it true.

"But if I don't say it out loud it will still be true..." she muttered wistfully.

"Errr, Lucy?" Natsu grimaced. "What are you talking about?"

She took a deep breath, it was either now or never. "My dad—he uhh got this new job that's supposed to pay really well."

"So the Heartfilia's are going to gain back their lost fortune?" Erza asked quizzically.

"Looks that way," Lucy said with a small grin.

"Well that's great, Lucy," Natsu said, tossing his slim, muscular arm over her shoulder, making her heart race a bit. "You scared me for a sec with that ugly face you were makin'."

"What ugly face?!" She fumed, suddenly forgetting the direness of this talk.

"I take that back," Natsu said. "Now _this face_ is _really_ _ugly_. OOWWW!"

"YOU JERK!"

"So why did you look so down before if you're gonna be rich again?" Gray inquired, interrupting Lucy's futile attempts to strangle Natsu.

She froze, reality hitting her like ton of bricks. _Oh right._ "The new job is located all the way up in Northern Continent."

"Isn't that like the complete other side of the continent? How is that going to work out?" Gajeel asked with his pierced eyebrows furrowing together.

"I'm moving," Lucy said, deliberately ducking her head, feeling as fragile as the glass vase that sat on display outside her father's office.

There was this strange awkward silence as Lucy nervously shifted on the balls of feet and tied her hands behind her back. Her ears burned from the deafening silence. _Why aren't they saying anything_? She risked a small peek at her friends.

They were all glancing at one another with looks of unease before, all at once, they broke out laughing. Lucy's blonde brows knitted closely together in confusion over the happy faces.

"That was such a bad joke, Lucy." Natsu cackled, doubling over.

"Jeez, you almost had me going there for a sec," Gray said, racking his hand through his raven-black hair.

"Juvia was so scared," Juvia said, placing a hand over her heart.

"Lucy," Erza said, pursing her lips, "you shouldn't make such grave jokes."

"Yeah," Cana chimed in, nodding in agreement. Shaking her beer glass, she added, "I almost spilt the rest of my beer because of that!" Meanwhile, some of the beer slouched all over Lucy's wooden floors.

 _They thought I was kidding_? Her heart felt like it was going to crumble to dust. Wasn't the pressure supposed to lighten now that she had come clean? Instead, it felt like she was getting sucked into this whirlpool in the ocean.

Admitting that she was moving the first time was painful enough. But she couldn't say it again. She just couldn't.

"I'm sorry," she buried her face into her palms with her tears slipping through the cracks between her fingers that matched the crack in her voice and the crack in her heart. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Oh my god…" Levy gasped.

"S-She's serious?" Cana stammered.

"B-But Northern Continent is so far! Love Rival needs to stay here and compete with Juvia for Gray-sama!"

"When will you be moving?" Gray asked.

"Friday."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Erza asked, looking furious.

"It wasn't definite that he would be getting the job and I didn't want to worry you guys for no reason…"

She gave a teary glance over to Natsu, realizing he was the only one who hasn't said anything yet, His arms were crossed and his face was hooded. Was he angry at her? Well she couldn't blame him. If he had pulled a stunt like this, she'd be pretty upset with him as well. She felt her lip start to quiver. _I'm terrible._

"Yeah, well now we are all worried!" Surprisingly, it was Gajeel who said those harsh, yet endearing words.

And Lucy's knees began to buckle. She hated this sensation so much. That emotional pain and agony where you can't even stand and the tears take total control of the body.

It just wasn't fair. She had only lived here for 2 years. It was too soon for her to say goodbye. Hell, she never wanted to say goodbye. She wanted to be with her friends forever.

Saying goodbye would mean no one would be breaking into her house again. No more Natsu sneaking into her bedroom on week nights. No more Natsu raiding her kitchen for food.

Saying goodbye would mean she would be all alone again.

 _Why wasn't Natsu saying anything_?

She was going to make him say something, that was for sure.

" _N-Natsu_ ," Lucy said gaining control of her tears as she turned to face him just in time to see him gulp. "Northern Continent isn't that far, is it?"

"Errr…"

"You'll still visit me and-and break into my bedroom and make a mess I'll still yell at you to get out, right?"

Natsu's face slowly faltered, looking at Lucy like she were some kind of person lying on her death bed, who was in denial about her terminal illness.

" _Right?_ "she said with a desperate oomph, her eyes were wide and frantic. Though her version was blurry, she could make out Natsu's sad features.

So he wasn't angry after.

He was sad.

Just like her

"I—" her voice cracked and she almost fell to the floor as painful sobs wreaked havoc through her body like the winds of a hurricane—but Natsu caught her in time, pulling her against his chest.

She rested her forehead against soft fabric of his scarf drenching it with her salty tears and snotty nose.

Natsu pulled her back for a moment and smiled gently, "'Course I'll break in. Your bed is too comfy whether it's here or all the way on the other side of the world! And pshh, Northern Continent isn't far at all. You'll be seein' a lot of me, that's a promise."

"N-Natsu," she cried, feeling this sudden warmth spread through her body. His words touched her— _touched her soul_. He tenderly pulled her back against his chest, as he absently stroked the back of her head, allowing her to breathe in his heated scent of sweat and spice.

"You're such a liar." Her voice sounded muffled against his scarf, but she allowed his comfort, wrapping her arms back around him.

"Oii, even if I'm not physically with you, that weird warmth you left inside my heart will always linger," he whispered suddenly.

And Lucy's breath caught. So instead, she chose to melt into his hug and allow her heart to race like crazy without any complaints.

It suddenly struck Lucy as odd. _They were hugging_. She couldn't recall a single moment where they had hugged in the past two years that they have known each other—besides Lucy restraining him from a fight or Natsu holding her captive to throw her into the pool.

But never a real hug.

Lucy knew she would cherish this moment for as long as she lived.

And it didn't go unnoticed with Lucy that Natsu never denied her lair accusation, but she didn't exactly care either because the fire of Natsu will always linger inside her heart.

 **XOXOX**

* * *

 **-dies- not sure exactly how this turned out ahh but thank you all so much for reading :000**

 **Have a lovely day!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Decided to write a part 2 to this fic as a birthday present to my friend Kyrie, (Obsessedbutwelldressed)! THANK YOU KYRIE FOR BEING SUCH AN AWESOME AND A SUPPORTIVE FRIEND! And sorry this is late!**

* * *

 **XOXOX**

For the entire week, Lucy's friends treated her like she was dying. The worst part was that _she_ had to be the strong one because no matter what, someone would end up bawling their eyes out whenever she was around.

So Lucy did her best to comfort them. She wore the biggest smile she could afford and made sure to laugh off everyone's depressing emotion.

But it wasn't fair. _She_ wanted to be the one crying. _She_ wanted to be the one comforted. _She_ was the one moving for crying out loud…

Why did they have to make this so hard? It really wasn't fair. Hell, even Gajeel was pretty distraught over her leaving and at lunch he would cry out, "Our last Monday lunch with Bunny Girl!"

"Our last Tuesday lunch with Bunny Girl!"

And so on, and so forth.

Levy often had to comfort him after it and Lucy was amazed that Gajeel was actually distressed over this. She would hear him blubber against Levy's neck, "Without Bunny Girl, our whole group dynamic will change!"

Levy was also in her own emotional turmoil. The first few days she was fine, but then when they would do their last homework assignments together, Levy would start bawling.

Even Juvia was a mess, she was trying to _force_ Lucy to flirt with Gray one last time, which Lucy insisted she never flirted with Gray to begin with…

To Lucy's chagrin, Mira was beyond upset that Lucy and Natsu never started dating. And Lucy would never admit this, but she was upset over that too. Ever since that night she cried in his arms, she felt shy around him. It was like her crush on the boy escalated to the point of no return.

Though Natsu didn't treat her any different as far as Lucy was concerned.

Except, he was more _touchy_ with her, if that made sense? For instance, she found that her hand was almost always in his. When they would walk to class together, Natsu would grab her hand. When walking home from school, Natsu would somehow have her hand in his.

And she loved every minute of it.

His hand was so different to hers. It was bigger and warmer and surprisingly soft.

Even sitting at lunch, Natsu somehow would end up next to her, sitting so close, their thighs would touch or their arms would continuously brush against each other, sending jolts to her heart each time.

She wondered if Natsu was even conscious of any of this. It was always hard to tell with him. Regardless, she was just happy for the special attention Natsu was giving her.

Besides, he was the only one who wasn't mourning over the fact that she was moving and Lucy was eternally grateful for that.

 **XOXOX**

Then came Thursday night, AKA, her last night in Magnolia. And if anyone had told her she would be spending that night blindfolded and getting dragged around by Natsu, she wouldn't have believed it.

And yet here she was. Blindfolded. With her life in Natsu's hands— _literally._ The amount of times she tripped on their journey was scary, but luckily Natsu was able to catch her each time, making her stomach mercilessly tangle.

"Natsuuu," she whined. "Where are you taking me?"

"Do you trust me?"

She blushed. "Of course."

She would never know that Natsu blushed back. "Good. Then stop asking me questions becauseee we are here!"

He spun her around, taking off her blind fold and Lucy let out a gasp. "WE ARE BACK AT MY HOUSE?"

Her face sank.

To be honest, that was the last place she wanted to spend her final night. Her house had become dreary over the week with less and less furniture each day. Even her bedroom was demoted to just a bed and blanket.

Her home was no longer home and that _crushed_ her.

That's why she was so ecstatic when Natsu came knocking on her bedroom window only an hour ago, claiming he had an adventure to take her on.

But it turns out it was only an adventure back to her house… _What the hell?_

"Yep! We are back at your house!" Natsu boyishly grinned, dragging her inside.

"Ahh—don't pull so hard!" She moaned as Natsu jerked her through the threshold of her front door.

"SURPRISE!"

Lucy let out a shrill scream, igniting tons and tons of laughter from her friends.

"Yes! I got her reaction on video!" Gray whooped while Lucy cried, "You're all in my house?!"

"Of course!" Mira beamed.

"What's a better way to spend your last night in Magnolia than at your house?" Erza inquired.

"Why am I not surprised?" Lucy chuckled to herself as her heart swelled with warmth.

She took in the scene before her.

Her ghastly empty house was now filled with balloons and streamers and decorations that read _Happy 50_ _th_ _Birthday!,_ and _It's a girl!,_ and even _CONGRATS ON THE ENGAGEMENT!_

"Err not that I'm complaining, but what's with these decorations?" She raised an amused eyebrow.

"Ahh the party store was out of _going away_ decorations," Levy explained. "So we improvised!"

"Ghihi, they're great, aren't they?" Gajeel looked rather proud, giving Lucy the sneaking suspicion that he was in charge of decorating.

"Gah shit." Natsu groaned. "She's crying!"

Was she? She touched a hand to her face and true to Natsu's words, she felt a strange wetness. "I-I love it!" she gushed.

What was that nonsense Lucy was spouting before about her home not being a home? Her home was still her home because all her friends were here; a home is anywhere the people you love most are gathered.

"Anyway, 'bout time you guys got here!" Gray scolded. "We all thought Natsu forgot the plan."

"Oiii, have some faith in me!" Natsu scowled.

"What would be the point in that?" Gray asked with feigned innocence.

"Grrr, fight me!"

"If I must." Gray coolly shrugged.

And the two boys charged at one another without even a second thought.

 _As expected,_ Lucy giggled to herself.

"Lucyyy," Cana slurred, "I'm going to miss you and your boobies so much!" From behind, she wrapped her arms around Lucy, groping her boobs. "M-My last time touching these!"

"Cana!" Lucy blushed, sighing. Classic Cana. Lucy laughed. She was going to miss her so much. Hell, she was even going to miss Cana's obsession with her boobs.

"Heyyy, Natsu, bet you'll miss these!" Cana gave Lucy's _assets_ a squeeze. Natsu looked up from his fight with Gray and sweat-dropped. "Probably not as much as you are," he grunted.

Cana let out a choking noise and then broke down sobbing, hugging Lucy tightly. "H-He's right!"

"Ahh, Cana! Get a hold of yourself!" Lucy yelled, meanwhile Juvia came over hugging Lucy from the front, "Love Rival, since today is your last night, Juvia will let you flirt with Gray-sama!"

"T-Thanks?"

"STRIPPING PERVERT!" Natsu bellowed and Lucy yanked Cana and Juvia off of her just in time to see Gray clad in only his blue polka dotted boxers.

Well it wouldn't be her last day in Magnolia without seeing Gray strip one more time.

"Oi, Lucy," Gray said, "since this is one of the last times I can ask you this, can I borrow your clothes?"

"NO!"

"Wahhh they're flirting! When Juvia told Love Rival that it was okay to flirt with Gray-sama, Juvia didn't mean it!" Juvia sobbed into palms. "Juvia was only trying to be polite!"

"WE AREN'T FLIRTING!" Lucy cried.

"But we are," a voice purred. Suddenly Lucy found herself encased in a set of strong arms and scent of suave cologne.

"Loke!" Lucy exclaimed, squirming out of his arms, which didn't help much since Loke grabbed a hold of her hands. "My princess, even if the distance between us grows farther, just know my love for you grows just far!"

"Loke!" Natsu appeared with a pissed off look on his face. _Was he jealous_? Lucy's heart tripled its beat. "You lying ass! You told me Gray was the one who drew on my face when I was sleep in class yesterday! But it was really that annoying Metal Head!"

Lucy's heart sank like a stone tossed into a river. What was she expecting? She blanched.

Before Loke could respond, Natsu decked him in the face, causing Loke to slam into Erza, who dropped her strawberry cake.

And everyone in the room sucked in a breath.

" _Loke_!" The girl's eyes turned scarlet like her hair.

"It was Natsu!"

" _NATSU_!"

"What?" Natsu blinked. "I didn't do nothin'!"

"You literally just punched him!" Lucy pointed out.

"I did?" Natsu blinked with utter confusion.

"YOU FORGOT?" Lucy yelped. _Unbelievable._

Then Natsu crumpled to the floor and behind him stood Erza with a haughty smile plastered on her lips. Lucy shrank back with an _eep._ And Erza slammed Lucy against her chest, hugging the girl, muttering almost incoherently how much she's going to miss her.

"What the hell was Natsu even going on about," Gray asked. "I told him myself that it was me who drew on his face!"

"He was just jealous of the love shared between me and my princess," Loke cheerfully mused with his face swelling up in the spot Natsu had hit.

And nearly everyone agreed, leaving Lucy with a strange fainting feeling.

As the night went on, the goofiness died down a bit and it soon became a water works show. Everyone in tears, telling stories from the good ol' days. Sharing pictures, taking new ones. They even brought Lucy presents.

From Cana, she received a fake ID. From Erza, she got a nice double edged sword so she can slay any unwanted men (which made all the boys twitch awkwardly). Levy gave Lucy a copy of her favorite book series as well as a huge card that talked about how much she was going to miss her, and Mira gave Lucy a cute scrapbook, which actually brought Lucy to tears for the millionth time that night.

Gray tried to give Lucy a cute ice sculpture, but the ice sadly melted. Gajeel didn't know people were even giving gifts, so he awkwardly pulled out a twenty dollar bill from his wallet, which Lucy couldn't help but laugh at.

 **XOXOX**

Eventually everyone left (hours after they first said goodbye). And as each person took their leave, it felt like another chunk of Lucy's soul was getting ripped out.

Why were goodbyes so hard?

Naturally, Natsu was the last guest left. And somehow they ended up walking around her block a couple of times while he ranted on about how he was going to finally beat Erza in a fight by the time Lucy comes back to visit and Lucy could only laugh at his idealism. They weren't holding hands, however, they walked so close that it somehow felt like it.

So this was it.

Her last night.

Her last chance.

Her last move.

Mustering up the tiny hope that remained inside her heart, she said softly, "Hey, Natsu?"

"Yeah, Lucy?"

"I like you."

Silence hung between them like a thin veil. It wasn't awkward. Lucy was only stating a fact. She liked Natsu. Simple as night and day. His eyes widened, giving Lucy her only sign that he did, in fact, hear her.

And she was happy with that.

She wasn't looking for a response because that would just be futile. What good would it do if he rejected her? Or what good would it do if he confessed back? Nothing was going to change the fact that today was Lucy's last night in Magnolia.

His mouth opened, making her heart go on the fritz, but before he could even utter a word, Lucy quickly interjected, "Don't speak. I just needed to let you know."

She turned on her heel, taking in a sharp breath with her eyes jammed shut. _I finally said it._

Suddenly a warm hand reached out, gripping her forearm, sending tiny sparks throughout her body. He twirled her around so she could face him. "Lucy—" His voice was raw, making Lucy shiver. Then he released his hold on her with his cheeks straining pink.

His eyes searched her face—maybe to see if she were kidding? She felt breathless and dizzy, subconscious and mesmerized by his dark, slanted eyes. Then they rested on her mouth, and, like a reflex, her stomach immediately fluttered.

Abruptly, he seized her roughly by the tops of her arms, causing her to gasp at the suddenness, and then he kissed her.

Her eyes mimicked that of the full moon, which was glistening in the night sky, with tears spilling down her cheeks from her round eyes as she stared at his closed ones and kissed him back with equal but opposite force.

She didn't want this—but she _did_ want this. She just didn't want her first kiss with the boy she liked to be the night she was leaving. It wasn't fair. Her brain was in a frenzy, trying to rationalize the chaotic mess swarming inside her mind.

It wasn't how she pictured her first kiss at all. It wasn't gentle or timid, it was rough and unpredictable like a fire and his hold on her arms was so tight, she was sure she was going to have bruises, but she didn't care. That would be tomorrow's problem, not today's.

Finally, her eyes clamped shut, allowing herself to surrender fully to the flames of her heart.

Lucy wasn't sure who pulled back first, but there they stood, panting and staring at each other with equally flushed faces. And Natsu still didn't release his hold on her arms.

"I'll message you every day," he blurted out. "And we'll video chat too."

"Natsu—"

"And I'll come visit you every weekend! That I promise!"

Her mouth parted. It was like the conversation they had last weekend, except this time, it didn't feel like Natsu was lying. Did he know what he was agreeing to? Hours upon hours of motion sickness just to go see her? She half-heartedly laughed. "Don't promise things you can't commit to, you dummy!"

He blinked. "Heh?"

"Motion sickness? Remember?"

He pouted, tugging at the neck of his scarf. "So what? You're worth the pain of it."

Her stomach twisted. She could feel herself falling more and more for him by each passing second. "Sure, sure," she teased, turning her back to him, "you say that now, but when—" Something soft wrapped around her neck. She glanced down, seeing a familiar scaly patterned scarf. "Your scarf?"

"It's my way of insuring you I'm gonna visit." He gave her a crooked grin.

"Natsu…" She clutched the fabric of the scarf for support because she was truly falling.

"Be my girlfriend," he said, breathlessly, his eyes sparkling like the stars that shone around them.

"Okay."

And they sealed the deal with another kiss, a soft and lingering one that made Lucy's body ripple with warmth from the fire it sparked.

Maybe moving wasn't such a bad thing after all.

 **The End~**

 **XOXOX**

* * *

 **Tbh I only wanted to write the last part so writing the entire first part I kinda just rushed it so I'm sorry if it was like really bad!**

 **Anyway, thank you for reading!**


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